The Perfect Storm
by PrairieLily
Summary: There's a perfect storm coming, and Eurus Holmes sits directly in its path. Angsty friendship/family featuring the three Holmes siblings, background Sherlolly, Eurstrade friendship (pre-pairing in the Eurstrade timeline), John, and Mrs. Hudson. Five chapters. The characters do not belong to me, and there is no copyright infringement intended.
1. Chapter 1

_Another plot bunny in the Eurstrade Universe... this is very much pre-Eurstrade but at this point, Eurus and Greg share a solid friendship bond. This is set after "The Adventures of Eurus Holmes" (which still needs one more chapter to complete it.)_

* * *

Mycroft Holmes sat in the chair normally occupied by John Watson in the living room at 221B Baker Street. He reclined silently across from his younger brother, carefully considering, in his quiet, methodical way, how to approach the subject that had finally come into their horizon.

He had known from the start, when he first knew that his and Sherlock's sister Eurus had been leaving Sherrinford on her own, once per week and a day at a time, that this day would come. It hadn't quite arrived yet, but in his big brotherly instinct – though he insisted he was not prone to brotherly compassion – he knew it was near.

And, in spite of his insistence that if he had a heart, it was a very small target indeed, it pained him deeply to know what was coming for Eurus.

Blood was thicker than water. Even the deep waters that had haunted Sherlock for well over three decades couldn't wash away the blood connection of family. In spite of having erased Eurus from his memory as a child, in his own way of dealing with the loss of his best friend, deep waters could not wash away his sister, in the end.

Nor, it seemed, could the random unexplainable tears that Eurus suddenly found falling, out of the blue. She would be visiting with Sherlock or Molly, perhaps lunching with John and Rosie, at a matinee with Greg on the day off he had scheduled to accommodate her visit days and sneaking his popcorn in the darkness of the cinema, or even learning how to bake biscuits and teacakes with Mrs. Hudson, laughing with a joy filled heart… and the tears would suddenly start flowing in a random torrent of confusion and despair that she could no more explain than she could explain away the blue in the sky.

Her companion, whoever they may be, would place their arms around her and hold her until the storm had passed, and Eurus, in all of her embarrassed confusion, managed to resume whatever it was they had been doing before the weather hit, though with a more subdued mood.

Mycroft knew, though. The humanity that her illness had kept at bay for her entire life, and had been returning slowly and steadily, was suddenly approaching full force, as sure as the east wind, starting as a gentle breeze, benign at first, and gradually building itself up into an otherworldly gale that neither man nor beast could defend itself against.

It was a perfect storm, and Mycroft knew that Eurus would be helpless against it. He also knew that she would need every single one of those people she had drawn into her life voluntarily, for more than just a few hours at a time, one day a week.

"Our sister is approaching a crossroads, brother mine," Mycroft finally said, quietly. "I believe it's time for her to know that her activities have not gone unnoticed by me. The support she depends upon in the network she has built around herself will be crucial."

Sherlock sat silently, his hands in their familiar steepled position in front of his face. He gazed at his brother steadily, understanding all too well that Eurus was about to have an awakening, and it would either shatter her irreparably forever, or form the strong foundation that she would build herself upon for the remainder of her life.

"What have you arranged?" Sherlock asked, simply.

"Five day's leave from Sherrinford. We have just five days, Sherlock. We must make the most of them. Her entire future has come down to this. We must tread this road carefully, brother mine."

"Tomorrow is her regular day, as you already know," Sherlock said. "Greg has arranged his day off as usual to accommodate her, and I believe he said he also has the weekend. Molly is on her days off as well, and John has cut back his hours at the clinic to spend more time with Rosie."

Mycroft nodded. "Excellent. I have arranged a psychiatrist to be here on standby, but between them, us, and Mrs. Hudson, we just may bring her through the storm. Where she goes from there will be entirely up to her."


	2. Chapter 2

Eurus, suddenly and randomly exhausted after an afternoon of baking lessons with Mrs. Hudson at 221B, had retired for a power nap in Sherlock and Molly's bedroom. Mrs. Hudson, concerned about one of her "Baker Street Girls", as she had come to regard Eurus along with Molly and Rosie, had texted Sherlock and Molly. From there, John, Mycroft and Greg had all been summoned.

She stood silently outside the door of the bedroom, listening in. She closed her eyes sadly to hear the now familiar sobs of despair drifting out from the crack of the doorway. Unsure of what to do, Mrs. Hudson finally steeled herself against the consequences and opened the door, walking straight over to the bed.

Eurus sat upright, her legs drawn up and her arms wrapped tightly around her knees. On her face was written despair and confusion, and Mrs. Hudson didn't hesitate. Perching herself onto the edge of the bed, she wrapped her arms around Eurus and cradled her, wordlessly comforting her as best she could.

"What is it dearie," she finally murmured into Eurus's ear. "Tell me love, I can't help you unless I know what's wrong."

Eurus opened her eyes and stared into nothingness for a few moments, before seeming to gain focus. She turned her eyes towards Mrs. Hudson just as Sherlock and John appeared in the doorway. Mrs. Hudson saw them, and acknowledged them silently.

"When I close my eyes, I see you. You, and Sherlock and Molly, and everyone I love and who makes me happy," she said, her voice thick and distorted from awakening emotion. "But when I fall asleep, all I can see is Victor. I can't erase his face from my dreams. I deserve this Mrs. Hudson, I know that. But I can't sleep. I must sleep, I must," she said, dissolving again into tears. "Everything that's happened, I've come so far, I feel it slipping away from me from sheer exhaustion and I can't hold on to it no matter how tightly I clench it in my fists."

Mycroft, standing in the doorway and unnoticed by Eurus and Mrs. Hudson, closed his eyes against pain he would never admit to. Reaching out to touch Sherlock's shoulder, he silently walked past them and into the room.

"Eurus," he said gently, drawing her attention to him. "I've arranged for you to stay here awhile. These people you have come to love feel the same for you. You are about to weather a storm, sister, but you will not weather it alone."

Eurus looked up at him, her face confused as he came into focus. "Mycroft… how…?"

"Hush, now. I've always known. The details are unimportant right now." He reached up, touching the side of her head, briefly caressing her jet black hair as she instinctively leaned the side of her face against his palm. Judging that he had displayed more than enough concern openly and for all to see, he retracted his hand, his thumb brushing away tears on the way past. With a single look of unspoken gratitude towards Mrs. Hudson, Mycroft turned towards the doorway.

Mrs. Hudson, looking exhausted herself, held the younger woman as Mycroft left the room without speaking. Sherlock glanced at Molly, not noticing that Greg had arrived as well and was standing behind her, next to Mycroft.

Sherlock, walking into the room, put a hand on Mrs. Hudson't shoulder. "I'll take over Hudders," he said softly. "Go rest. Anyway I think the timer on the oven is about to go off. It would seem that a sleepover is imminent. We may need those biscuits," he said, smiling. Mrs. Hudson nodded, rising from the bed and heading into the kitchen.


	3. Chapter 3

John, taking his turn watching over Eurus, sat silently, reading through a news magazine. As he finished each article, he would look over to her, twitching in her sleep and restless. Anytime now, he thought. Once she reached REM sleep, she didn't stay there long.

Sure enough, towards the end of a particularly dull article, Eurus flew awake, sitting bolt upright and screaming hysterically. The commotion drew Sherlock into the room, and Greg and Molly to stand patiently in the doorway. Sharing a silent communication with John, Sherlock perched himself on the edge of the bed, while John moved himself out of the chair and on to the edge opposite.

"Eurus," John said, firmly. "Eurus, can you hear me?"

Eurus suddenly grew calm, her breathing becoming steadier. She looked over to John. "He won't go away. I deserve this but he won't go away. I can't stop seeing him in the well."

Sherlock closed his eyes, shooing away the images of his childhood friend. In retrospect, he thought, Victor Trevor bore a striking resemblance to a childlike John Watson. Perhaps that wasn't a coincidence, given their experiences. "Who, Eurus?" Sherlock asked gently. "Victor?"

Eurus looked at him, nodding, her eyes wild.

"Eurus," John said, "You were five. You can't be held responsible for what you did when you were five. All children get jealous and throw tantrums. Yours just… went too far."

"I killed him," she said, her voice barely audible. "I pushed him in the well and waited for Sherlock to solve that stupid _stupid_ bloody puzzle. I could have saved him but I didn't. I was so evil, such an evil evil little child…"

"You weren't evil, Eurus, you were sick. There's a big difference," John said softly. "Sick people can get well again, and believe me, you _are_ getting well again. That's why you're feeling this way. Do you have any idea the impact your actions have had? I don't mean the bad things. I mean the good things."

"All I can see is the bad," she said helplessly.

"Your actions have had a lot of impact, and a lot of it is good."

Molly and Greg, still hovering in the doorway, took their cue to enter the room.

"If you hadn't done what you did, I probably would have grown up to be a pirate," Sherlock laughed softly. "Or a sailor anyway. In the Royal Navy, I'll just bet. John and I never would have met."

"And if we HAD met, we probably wouldn't have liked each other very much," John said lightly. "That whole army vs navy thing, you know. Silly rivalry but still…"

"I never would have met Sherlock and married him," Molly said softly, laying her hand on Eurus's knee. "Can you imagine Will never existing?", she said, glancing up at her husband. "Or Rosie? John may never have met Mary and Rosie never born. Can you imagine life without our little dozy Rosie?" she said, smiling up at John.

Eurus seemed unconvinced. This was going to take awhile, but at least her breathing had calmed somewhat and she seemed to be hearing what they were saying to her.

"Do you realize how many cases might have gone cold if Sherlock weren't around, and you too for that matter, when your brother is off doing the daddy thing. Why do you think I let you steal my popcorn in the cinema, you clever girl," Greg laughed softly in his gruff teddy bear voice. "All of this has happened because you made a very bad choice as a child, and every choice has consequences... but not all of those consequences will be bad. Everything happens for a reason, Eurus."

"You can't change what you did to Victor," John said. "But you changed what you did to me. You made the same choice to punish Sherlock again and you changed your mind, because you _are not_ evil. You were _never_ evil. You were a very ill little girl who grew into a very ill young woman, and the people put in charge of your care did nothing to help you. You can't be held at fault for that."

"You were ill, and you still are, but you have taken steps towards healing, sister," Sherlock said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "You made choices as a child because you felt alone. But look around this room. You are not alone anymore, and we will bring you home and help you to stay here, and if we can't we will bring you home again and again and again until you are grounded again. Every one of us will. We are all here because of the path that was formed by your choices, and you matter to us."

Mrs. Hudson, standing in the doorway with Mycroft behind her, came into the room. "Look at her, she's exhausted. Maybe she can try to get some sleep now," she said, carrying a blanket in with her. "Who's next on watch?"

Greg stood up, stretching his legs. "That would be me. Just give me a moment to use the loo and grab another cup of coffee. It may be a long night."

As the group slowly filed out of the room, Mrs. Hudson lingered a moment, tucking Eurus in and waiting for Greg to return. She looked towards the doorway where Sherlock and Mycroft stood.

"It's going to be a long week," Sherlock said, simply. "I hope it's enough time."

"We'll know in a few days, I suppose," Mycroft replied smoothly. "She's come this far on her own, I suspect she is stronger than she thinks."

"She's going to have to be," was Sherlock's simple reply, as the two brothers, standing aside to allow Mrs. Hudson to pass between them through the doorway, turned and walked back into the living room.


	4. Chapter 4

Eurus opened her eyes with a small yelp of fear, startled awake by the haunting face of Victor Trevor in her dreams. The first thing she saw next to her on the huge king sized pillow was the face of her sister-in-law, Molly. The kind face smiled at her and reached up to brush stray hairs from her eyelashes. "It's alright, sister. Go back to sleep." Eurus closed her eyes, lulled to sleep by the sound of Molly murmuring a soft lullaby.

The next time she awoke, Molly was gone, replaced by Sherlock. The dreams of Victor were slightly less haunting now but they were still there, and she still awoke with a start, taking in a sharp breath of panic. She shifted her eyes up to look at the haphazard curls on his forehead, remembering the same curls he'd had in their early childhood, then glanced down at his eyes, multi coloured and so unique in their Sherlockness. She took comfort in that, focusing on the freckle he had in one of his irises. "Sleep, Sister. You're not alone," he said softly. She closed her eyes and drifted off again.

When Victor's face startled her awake again, she found the kind, matronly face of Mrs. Hudson. No words were needed. Eurus had always felt secure with the no-nonsense landlady. She closed her eyes as she felt Mrs. Hudson's hand brush her cheek gently and reassuringly, taking in the familiar scent of the older woman's floral lotion. Sighing deeply, Eurus allowed sleep to overtake her again.

When her eyes opened next, she was mildly startled to find Greg there, though considering the procession of friends and family on her pillow, she wasn't surprised when she thought about it later. She had always found his eyes to be warm and comforting, even when he was placing her under arrest her at Musgrave Hall, but she had never had occasion to study them this closely before. Startled awake again by dreams of Victor, she realized that Sherlock's young childhood friend had been joined by another face looking up from the bottom of the well – John's. Greg smiled at her reassuringly and for the first time since this psychological denoument at 221B had begun, she felt herself smiling back, just before she closed her eyes again.

Victor was still in the well, but he was changing, morphing. No longer was he solely the terrified young boy her brother had rarely been separated from, but rather he was beginning to take on more adult features. She recognized kind expressive eyes – though she was startled to realize for the first time that they were multi-coloured, like Sherlock's - and a no-nonsense sardonic expression framed by sandy hair. As the transformation completed itself, she found that Victor had completely vanished, replaced by John Watson. Her eyes flew open, less panicked, and she found John's face next to her on the pillow, watching her intently with the same multi-coloured eyes she'd seen in the dream. "Who do you see now, Eurus?" he asked quietly.

Eurus took a sharp breath, averting her gaze past John's shoulder for a moment, remembering the dream. Bringing her eyes back to John, she smiled for the second time and said, "You, John. I see you. Victor is gone, I only see you."

"And I haven't really gone anywhere, have I? I'm right here because you changed your mind and made a better choice. You're not dreaming Eurus, I'm really here, alive and well."

"Thank you," she whispered.


	5. Epilogue

The day before Eurus was to return to Sherrinford, she emerged from the spare bedroom, taken over when she realized she'd commandeered her brother and sister-in-law's bed the first night. She was still somewhat exhausted, but for the first time in nearly a week, she looked as though she had finally gotten some decent, restful sleep.

"Greg tells me you prefer coffee over tea," Mrs. Hudson said, placing a huge mug of steaming black brew on the table. Next to it she had placed freshly baked muffins and a tray of fresh fruit. "Looks to me like you could use a boost. He'll be around to take you to your appointment soon, and I hear Molly will be joining the two of you for the cinema afterwards. Seems John and Sherlock have gotten themselves tangled up in some sort of case." Mrs. Hudson tsked at the two men for shamefully letting themselves become distracted with such things at such a time.

"Life shouldn't come to a halt just because I've hit a crossroads, Mrs. Hudson," Eurus said reassuringly, with a smile. "Besides, how many times was I told this past week that they were meant to be best friends and solving mysteries together?" She tore a chunk off of a cranberry lemon muffin and popped it into her mouth, closing her eyes blissfully to the tartness of the fruit and the freshness of the lemon.

"Anyway, Mycroft has arranged for me to leave Sherrinford twice per week for awhile. Mondays to see my psychiatrist and again on a day of my choosing. My Monday appointment shouldn't take all day, so I'll have time to spare, and I suppose Thursdays have worked for this long, why mess up the schedule? Sherlock is more flexible but John and Molly and Greg have rearranged their schedules to accommodate me for quite some time now."

"Well, I suppose," Mrs. Hudson conceded. "But perhaps you could save a trip now and then and take your second day on a Tuesday. I'd love to have my Baker Street Girls all together now and then for a good old fashioned sleepover. Anyway, we still need to teach you how to make these," she said, pointing to the tray of muffins.

Eurus laughed. "Baking is just science, Mrs. Hudson. Cooking is art. I rather enjoy the lessons though."

"I do love an eager student. So do John and Sherlock. I don't think your brother has ever met a biscuit he didn't like." Mrs. Hudson nearly tsked at that as well as she rolled her eyes. "But, Greg will be around shortly, I suppose you should get ready to go," she said, glancing up at the clock.

"Ah yes. I feel as though I'm wearing a second layer of skin that I could crawl straight out of. I am going to enjoy this shower very, very much," Eurus said, rising from the chair and picking up her coffee cup, intending to finish it in the bedroom as she dressed.

"Onwards and upwards," she said lightly, heading down the hallway to the spare room. "Seems the storm has passed, I can't wait to feel the sunshine!"


End file.
